Franciscan Sister of Christian Charity Sister Mardelle Meinholz shares her family history which is a testimony of God’s call in building up Christ’s Church. We thank God especially for the vocation of marriage and family life, the building block of all the vocations.
One decision can engender enigmatic results. Think of Abraham and Sara, Joseph’s brothers, Moses, and Mary. That is the case of Johann and Anna Marie Brabender Meinholz, my great-grandparents.
Franciscan Sister Mardelle Meinholz, Father Barry Meinholz and Bill Meinholz, brother of Sister Mardelle
Johann and Anna Marie lived in Frixheim, Germany in the Kingdom of Prussia. On 23 Apr 1867, Johann 32 and Anna Marie 38 and their four living children, John 11, Odilia 5, Mathias 3, and Hubert 4 months and Johann’s two brothers, Bernard 28 and Peter 22, emigrated. The family had to find a way from Frixheim to Antwerp, Belgium, to board the S.S. Ottawa. Although this ship was steam-powered, it mainly relied on sail and wind. Steerage section was crowded and unclean. The area was barely swept clean of the cotton, cattle, or other freight that had been carried on the previous trip. Passengers brought blankets, tin plates, quart mugs, utensils, water cans, other belongings, and straw mattresses, if possible, to face 3,000 miles across the ocean. The North Atlantic Ocean was violent and iced covered. The people feared seasickness and fires. The coal-powered engines belched smoke that would cover everything with grime. When the ship arrived at the Port of New York on 23 May 1867, cholera was rampart. The passengers had to remain three extra days on board. Of the 662 emigrants in steerage, 402 were Germans. Anna Marie’s youngest brother had emigrated from Germany earlier and settled in Ashton, Wisconsin. The last leg of the trip took until 6 June 1867. Means, unknown.
A simple story of immigration that thousands made. The New York Times printed, that during the month of May 1867, forty sea-going crafts bound to or from the United States were totally lost or missing. Death by various means was possible. Johann, Anna Marie, and their family endured the dismal conditions.
A decision of leaving much to begin again. Not only did the Johann-Anna Marie Meinholz family step out in faith, but some in the Meinholz relationship, who chose to live a consecrated or ordained life, also took that step of faith. When Johann left Germany, his two sisters Clara and Odilia remained, one of whom was a nun in Neuss. Of the children that Anna Marie and Johann bore, three sons, Matthias, Hubert Anton, and Cornelius, had descendants who chose a religious life style. Mathias and Magdalene had three daughters, Anna, Gertrude, and Frances, who entered the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. Good thing for the Franciscan Sisters that they were not identical triplets. In the next generation, came a priest, John Meinholz. Fr. John was a diocesan priest from the Madison Diocese. Recently retired. From the third generation of Mathias and Magdalene, Barry Meinholz was ordained on 22 May 2026. He also ministers in the Madison Diocese. Fr. Barry Meinholz is the great, great grandson of Johann and Anna Marie Meinholz. Mathias and Magdalene gave the Church three religious sister, and two priests. How thrilled they must be seeing from heaven, not only these people dedicated to God in a special way but also the great number of posterity whom became part of the people of God.
Next to Mathias in age was Hubert Anton Meinholz who married Seraphine Ackerman. One of their sons, Cornelius, had been ordained a transitional deacon when tragedy happened. From 1918 to 1920, a catastrophic global health event occurred, an influenza pandemic. This strain of the flu could rapidly progress to pneumonia and death within days. Cornelius contracted influenza. His body fought back. However, with a weaken condition, another illness struck, tuberculosis, the major killer in the world at this time. At the age of 22, he died.
Another son, Christian (Chris) who left farming, had five sons; five strong sons who could have been valuable hands on a farm. Chris’ and Gertrude’s grandson, David, was ordained in 1994, becoming part of the Milwaukee Archdiocese. He always started his homilies, “So what?” A massive heart attack claimed his life at the age of 41, being ordained a priest for almost 13 years.
A third son, Hubert Anthony, married Martha Pankratz. Their youngest daughter, named after her mother, became a religious sister and joined the same religious community that her three first cousins – once removed, joined, the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity. Sister Mardelle, with her love for horses, almost joined a community that ministered on horseback.
A third son of Johann and Anna Marie, Cornelius, married Augusta Bronner. Their fifth child was Valentine who married Petronella Bollig who bore two children. Their daughter, Bonnie Meinholz, married Gerald Grob. With that marriage, her surname changed to Grob. They had one child, Jeffrey Grob. On 13 November 2020, he was ordained to the episcopacy, or in other words, ordained a bishop. On 4 November 2024, the Most Reverend Jeffrey Scott Grob was named Archbishop of Milwaukee by Pope Francis. As a youth, Archbishop Jeffrey grew up on a dairy farm in Cross Plains, Wisconsin, which is near the Wisconsin state capital, Madison. As a young boy, he not only milked cows twice a day, but also baled hay, gathered crops, cleaned out the barn, collected the eggs, picked stones, chucked corn, and so much more manual labor. Archbishop Jeffrey commented, “Once you say yes to being a bishop, you belong entirely to the church. You’re called to serve, and you go. And my good fortune brought me to Milwaukee.”
God is generous in salting the Meinholz family with clerical and religious vocations, enough to remind this gathering of God’s presence.
The Meinholz Family Celebrating the 150th Anniversary of Johann and Anna Maria Meinholz’s Arrival to America from Germany June 11, 2017 at St. Peter’s Church in Ashton and the Art and Lori Meinholz Blue Star Dairy Farm
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